


Queen of Hours

by brookreader0



Series: The Queens of Mewni [1]
Category: Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Genre: Actually Destroying a World, Almost Destroying the World, Anxiety Attacks, Damn it Lyric!, Dragons, F/M, Fire, Gen, Magic, Marriage, Mild Blood, Mild Language, Minor Character Death, Minor Injuries, Newborn child, Pig-goats, Royal Magic Wand, Self-Destructive Behavior, Strained Parent-Child Relationships, Temporary Character Death, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-05-18 16:02:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19337851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brookreader0/pseuds/brookreader0
Summary: Tick tock, the clock talks,but secrets are its powers.The only one to break its spellis Skywynne, Queen of Hours.Skywynne Lavender Butterfly, the twenty-seventh Queen of Mewni, has one main goal when she assumes the throne; to be better. Better than the previous Queens who cared far more for themselves then for their kingdom, better than the people who complain about those Queens but won't lift a finger to help themselves, and most of all better than her mother, who let Mewni's castle and the precious book of spells burn due to her carelessness and selfishness. But as Skywynne throws herself into fixing her kingdom, she finds that the more she does, the more is expected of her, and there's only so much that can be expected of one young woman, no matter how powerful or intelligent she is. And if the Queen of Hours can't find a balance between helping the kingdom and tending to her own needs, she may just end up destroying herself and everything she's worked for.





	1. Chapter 1

I frowned and twisted to see the back of my head in the mirror, tongue sticking out the corner of my mouth in concentration as I gathered my wild reddish-blond curls and began twisting them into a knot.

_ Tap tap tap.  _ “Skywynne, dear? May I come in?” My mother swung my door open and waltzed into the room before I could even open my mouth to answer. “Are you almost ready?”

“Yes, Mother.” I eyed her reflection in my mirror. She was wearing a ridiculously large, frilly green dress and so much shimmering gold jewelry that I felt sure that I’d get a headache if I looked at her for too long. Her bright red hair was piled high on top of her head, making her seem almost a foot taller than she actually was. “I just need to do my hair and makeup.”

“Well don’t be too long,” she said as she stepped behind me and lightly swatted my hands away so that she could run her fingers through my hair. “The guests are waiting for your grand entrance.”

_ Says the woman who needs to change dresses to take a walk in the garden _ . “I can do it myself, you know,” I told her, fighting to keep my annoyance from creeping into my voice.

“Nonsense, it’s what mothers are for.” She forcefully twisted my hair back, and I bit my lip to keep from grimacing. “Besides, I want you to look absolutely stunning when you get the Royal Magic Wand.”

_ Good luck with that,  _ I thought. It wasn’t as if I was  _ ugly  _ or anything, but… well… let’s just say that if being Queen didn’t work out I probably wasn’t going to get a job as a model. That had never bothered me too much though - unlike my mother, I believed that there were far more important things in life than being beautiful. Like magic, for instance.

“There… perfect.” I let out a deep breath as Mother finally released her death grip on my head. I gingerly touched the very complex looking high bun, wondering how on Mewni I was going to go about taking it out after the ceremony. 

“Now, do you need help with your makeup too?” She eyed the brushes and powders laid out on my vanity.

“No thank you,” I said quickly. “I’ll do it.”

“Alright, then.” She gave me an unusually gentle smile before turning and striding back out the door. “I’ll see you in a few minutes, darling. Don’t forget to outline your cheekmarks!”

“Yes, Mother,” I sighed. I turned back to the mirror as the sound of her high heels hitting the polished wooden floor faded.

_ I suppose I should be thankful that my marks are so simple,  _ I mused as I grabbed the little pink pen that my mother insisted was very different from the ones we used to write letters and began tracing my rosy pink hourglasses.  _ Her treble clefs must be a nightmare to outline. _

“Eh, Lyric’s had _years_ of practice, I doubt she has any trouble anymore.” I jumped and spun around to face the source of the voice, a tiny blue man with a white beard who was sitting cross-legged in mid-air. “Though I agree that it seems an awful lot of hassle when no one can tell the difference anyways.”

“Glossaryck!” I exclaimed. “I didn’t hear you come in.”  _ Wait, did he just read my mind? _

“Yup.” Glossaryck floated over to the vanity and sat down, then began picking his nose. “So how ya doing? Ready to get your wand?”

“Am I  _ ever!”  _ I grinned as I finished outlining my cheekmarks. “I can’t wait to try magic. Maybe I’ll learn how to go back in time - that’d be incredible.” I paused as I sat down the blush and began applying mascara. “I’m almost more excited about the book, though. I mean… I know a lot of the past queens were… well…”

“Like your mother?” suggested Glossaryck.

“I was  _ going  _ to say ‘not very interested in helping their kingdom.’” I paused again to apply a small amount of lip balm. “ … But that works too. Anyways, I  _ am  _ looking forward to reading about, like, Queen Etheria, or Urania, or Polaria… a lot of the earlier queens, I guess. Oh, and Aurora - I’ve always wondered why she’d do something so horrible to her own daughter.”

Glossaryck grinned. “That’s what I like about you, Skywynne - always eager to learn. You would make a great student.”

“Thank you - wait, don’t you mean  _ will _ ?” It was Glossaryck’s job to help the princesses of Mewni learn how to use magic. He’d taught every single Queen since Cosmica the Reclaimer, so of course I assumed he would be teaching me as well.

“Eh, whatever.” He shrugged as rose up off of the vanity. “Well, see you around, Princess. Good luck!” He was gone before I could respond.

_ Weirdo.  _ A fond smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. I was going to enjoy learning from him.

Truth be told, I  _ should  _ have gotten the wand and book three years prior, when I turned fourteen, but Mother just hadn’t seemed to want to give them up. Whenever I asked her about it, she would just say, “Be patient, dear, you’ll have it soon enough.”

“Why not now?” I would ask.

“Because I said so,” she would answer, and that would be that. If I continued to push the issue, she would threaten to delay my wand passing even more because of my “talking back.” I knew that she was probably just saying that to scare me into shutting up, but still I never risked agitating her further.

What had bothered me most was that I could never figure out  _ why  _ she didn’t want to give me the wand and book. As far as I knew she hardly ever used her wand anymore, and I doubted that she’d ever so much as opened the Book of Spells. It really seemed as though she just didn’t want  _ me _ to have them.

_ But that doesn’t matter now,  _ I reminded myself, taking a deep breath to soothe the vexation that formed whenever I focused on that particular topic for too long.  _ I’m getting my wand tonight! I should be happy. _

I stepped back and took one last glance at the mirror. My makeup was subtle enough that I didn’t look like a clown but noticeable enough to please my mother, and thankfully I hadn’t gotten any powder on my new blue dress. I was ready.

_ Tonight, everything changes. _

 

\-----------------------------------------

 

The crowd erupted into cheers and applause as I carefully stepped down the stairs leading to the ballroom, holding my skirt up so as not to trip on it.  _ I should’ve brought ear plugs,  _ I thought, resisting the urge to clap my hands to the sides of my head to block out the noise. I was glad the people approved of me, but I really wished I could just take the wand without all this spectacle.

The dimly lit ballroom was completely packed with people - visiting royalty, nobility, and mewman peasants alike all stood shoulder to shoulder. A thin strip of red carpet was rolled out across the middle of the ballroom, leading straight from where I was standing to a raised platform where my mother and father stood, along with the five members of the Magic High Commission. I could see that Mother was holding the wand, which rather ironically took the form of a broom in her hands.  _ I can’t wait to see what it will look like for me. _

I took a deep breath, moved my shoulders back, and started walking towards Mother as quickly as I could without looking as though I was rushing to get this over with. People crowded either side of the red carpet I walked on, many yelling my name and other things that I couldn’t make out. I stared straight ahead of me and concentrated on my breathing, hoping I looked far more poised and regal than I felt.

**_Raaagh!_** I let out a yelp and nearly jumped out of my skin at the sudden loud rasping noise, then looked up to see several large, scaly creatures flying overhead. Fire from their mouths illuminated the ballroom.

_ Oh right. The dragons.  _ Mother had mentioned some weeks ago that there would be trained dragons at the wand passing ceremony. I hadn’t been too keen on the idea, seeing as our castle was made mostly of wood, but Mother assured me that these dragons were perfectly well behaved.  _ I suppose she was right about that,  _ I grudgingly admitted to myself.  _ Still, when I’m Queen, performing dragons are going to be the first thing to go. _

I kept walking, glancing at the people around me to see if they’d noticed my slip up. Much to my relief, most of them now seemed far more interested in the dragons than in what I was doing, but one particularly handsome young man with clear green eyes met my gaze and grinned. I felt my face grow hot and quickly looked away.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity but was probably about thirty seconds, I reached the platform where my parents stood. Father was gazing straight past me, probably searching for Lady Juliet in the crowd, but Mother and the Magic High Commission were all staring at me as if they were sizing me up. Even Omnitraxus Prime, who usually just communicated through a small glass ball that the other members of the Commission took turns wheeling around, had shown up in person, his great starry blue mass towering over everyone around him. I swallowed and looked away from him to meet my mother’s gaze.

“Princess Skywynne Lavender Butterfly.” The room immediately fell silent as she began to speak. That was one thing I truly admired about my mother - her ability to get people to shut up. “We have-”

**_RAAAAAGHH!!_ ** This time, nearly everyone in the room jumped at the dragon’s roar. I whirled around to see that two of the beasts appeared to be engaged in mortal combat above the center of the ballroom. Most of the guests were rapidly scrambling away from that area, though a person whom I assumed to be the dragons’ trainer was standing right under them, ineffectually shouting “No! Bad girl, Jewel! Off! Down! Heel!”

_ Yep. Definitely outlawing the dragons. _

There was a flash of light and a cacophony of screams, and I realized that a large part of the left wall of the ballroom was engulfed in flames.  _ Crap! _

“Put it out, put it out! Quickly!” Mother shrieked, at the same time that Hekapoo, the demoness-like Master of Dimensional Transit, shouted, “Everyone get out of the castle!  _ Now _ !”

The guests apparently liked Hekapoo’s idea better, and many people were already crowding the main exit. The flames were spreading rapidly and three more dragons appeared to be joining in the fight.

“HEY!” I shouted, beginning to rush back towards where I came in. “GO THROUGH THE OTHER DOOR! THE OTHER DOOR! THROUGH THE CASTLE!”

I could hear Mother’s voice join mine, and together we managed to usher many of the guests through the other door and direct them to the nearest exit. I quickly surveyed what was left of the ballroom - all of the remaining guests were hurrying out one of the doors. No one appeared to be trapped in the flames. Satisfied, I allowed myself to follow the last of the stragglers out the door, down the hall, and out the other door into the cool night air. I noticed my Mother wasn’t among them.  _ She must have already gone. _

Once we were a safe distance away from the castle, I looked back to see if our knights had managed to control the fire. My heart sank; a huge portion of the castle was completely engulfed in flames which continued to spread, and no knights appeared to even be trying to stop the fire.  _ I guess they just ran away with everybody else. _

“Skywynne!” My mother seemed to appear out of nowhere to pull me into a tight hug. For once I returned the embrace with equal fervor. “Oh, Skywynne, thank goodness, I thought you were right behind me but then I looked and you were gone, and-”

“It’s okay, Mother, I’m okay,” I said into her shoulder. “I was just making sure everyone got out of the ballroom.”

“Well that’s very thoughtful of you, dear, but you should really leave that sort of thing to the knights. It’s their job, you know.” She pulled back to look into my eyes. “Oh, sweetie, I’m so sorry this happened on your special day. The owner of the dragons  _ said  _ that they wouldn’t hurt a fly!”

“Well, they are  _ dragons,  _ Mother, I don’t think they can really help it,” I commented, though I doubted she’d pay it any mind.

I sighed.  _ I guess I’ll have to wait even longer for the wand and the… book…  _

_ Oh crud, the book!  _ It was still inside the castle! And Glossaryck was magically bound to it - if the book burned, he would surely die.

“Mother, Mother! The book! Glossaryck! They’re still, you have to-” I waved a hand wildly towards the burning castle.

“Slow  _ down _ , Skywynne, for goodness’ sake, you aren’t making any sense.” Mother grabbed my arm, her long nails digging into my flesh. “What about Glossaryck?”

“He’s in the Book of Spells! And the book is still in the castle!” Mother’s eyes widened, and her grip on my arm loosened. “Please, you have to try to save it! Please!” I begged.

Without a word, Mother turned around, picked her broom-wand up off the ground (Had that been sitting there this whole time?) and sat down on the handle. “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” she told me, and before I could even so much as say ‘Thank you,’ the broom was speeding off towards the castle.

_ Wow, she took that very seriously,  _ I thought, impressed. Perhaps it had been unfair of me to assume the worst of her… then again, it wasn’t as though that assumption was completely unfounded. Usually, whenever I suggested she do anything difficult that didn’t directly serve her image, she just brushed me off.

Minutes passed, and I began to grow anxious.  _ Where is she?  _ The castle was almost entirely aflame now, and I couldn’t see any sign of my mother.  _ Could she not find the book? Is she trapped in there? Should I send in someone after her? Did I just get my mother killed?! _

“Ah, Skywynne, there you are.” I jumped as a warm hand settled on my shoulder, then turned to see a well-muscled man with pale blond hair.

“Oh, Father.” I glanced behind him and sure enough, I spotted Lady Juliet’s slim figure lurking in the crowd just a few paces away. I decided not to comment - there were far more pressing things on my mind at the moment.

Father glanced around me. “Where’s your mother?”

I pointed towards the castle. “She went back to get the Book of Spells.”

“What? By herself?!” My heart sped up a little at his shocked tone.  _ Oh this is bad. _

“Yes, we should probably…” I trailed off when I noticed a small object flying away from the castle.  _ That has to be her, right? _

“What?” Father asked. I pointed towards the object - no, the person, I was certain it was a person now - flying towards us. Relief swept over me like a cool breeze.  _ Yes, that’s definitely her. _

Mother crashed to the ground a few feet in front of us, much in contrast to her usual graceful landings. Father and I rushed to her side.

“Lyric!” Father cried. “Are you alright?” I knelt down next to her. Her face and hands were covered in ashes and her dress was charred, but she didn’t seem hurt. Her arms were wrapped tightly around what appeared to be a very old book.  _ She really did it! _

“Yes, Connor, I’m quite alright.” She pushed herself into a sitting position and tried ineffectually to dust off her gown. “And look, Skywynne!” She smiled proudly and held out the book.

“Oh, Mother…” I murmured as I gently took it from her outstretched hands and brushed the soot off of the cover. “Thank you so…” My heart suddenly dropped into my stomach as I read the title. “The… Great Book of Fashion?”

“Yes!” Mother beamed. “I just barely managed to save it for you. Now, when it comes time for you to set the fashion for your reign, you’ll have the insight of Queen Celeste herself to guide you!”

_ No. No! No no no nononononono!  _ “But… what about the Book of Spells?!”

“Oh.” My mother shrugged. “Well, by the time I had recovered the Book of Fashion, it was too dangerous to look for that one as well. But never mind, I’m sure you can make up your own spells.”

“Mother!” I cried. “That book had the wisdom of  _ every  _ Queen!” Okay, so that wasn’t  _ quite  _ true, but it did have far more than just drawings of dresses and suits. “Glossaryck LIVED in there! How could you prioritize THIS-” I waved the stupid Book of Fashion at her “-over all that?!”

Mother scowled. “I don’t appreciate your tone, young lady. I told you, I didn’t have enough time to get them both. And I’m sure Glossaryck will be fine.”

“NO HE WON’T!” I screamed, nearly hysterical. “His life is BOUND to that book! And if you didn’t have time, then you should have left this junk!” I tossed the Book of Fashion to the ground as hard as I could given that I was already kneeling.

“I will NOT be spoken to like that, Skywynne!” Mother stood up abruptly. “If those spells mean so much to you, then why don’t you go get them YOURSELF!” She stormed off before I could reply. I looked to my father for help, but he was already gone.  _ Of course. _

Hot tears pricked the corners of my eyes.  _ That feckless, shallow, irresponsible-  _ I managed to push that particular thought out of my head before I could finish it. I looked helplessly up at the castle - there was no way anyone could get in and save the book and Glossaryck now.

_ Glossaryck.  _ I let out a strangled sob.  _ You WOULD make a great student.  _ The little bastard had known this would happen, hadn’t he? And yet he did nothing to stop it. Grief and anger poured out of me in the form of a flood of tears and uncontrollable sobs.

And it was there, kneeling in front of a burning castle with a useless book of trends lying next to me, that I made the vow that would shape nearly every action I ever took from then on. I would be a better Queen than my mother… no, I would be a better Queen than any that had come before me. I would push the very limits of what magic could do, I would write a new book of spells, and I would make Mewni greater than it had ever been before.


	2. Chapter 2

_ Hmm… I wonder if they could make the towers rounded. Would that be too top-heavy? _

It had been almost a month since our castle was destroyed. We had people working on building a new one, but progress was incredibly slow, probably because the only instructions my mother had given for the new castle were, “like the old one, but with bricks.” Everyone who had lived in the palace, including my parents and I, were now living in tents. I was currently sitting cross-legged on the floor of the “royal tent,” trying to sketch out a slightly more…  _ detailed  _ design for our new home. I had the bottom floor, basement, and sub-basement at least roughly drawn out, but the upper floors and towers were presenting quite a challenge, especially since pretty much everything I knew about architecture came from a few books that I had found at Quest Buy.

I sighed and began scratching out the towers I had started drawing.  _ I’ll have to look through the books again. _

Something nudged me in the ribs, hard, causing me to drop my quill. I turned to see a grayish brown pig-goat gazing at me expectantly.

“Pan,” I chuckled. “You know you aren’t supposed to be in the tent. Mother would have a conniption fit.” I reached up to scratch her behind the ears in spite of myself.

“Princess Skywynne?”

I looked up to see a tall, thin girl with dark green hair and a mole on her left cheek standing in the doorway of the tent. “Yes, Nalia?”

Pan trotted over to the maidservant and headbutted her leg. Nalia smiled at her and patted her head, then looked back at me. “The Queen sent me to tell you that she and the King want you in the throne room now, My Lady.”

“The throne room?” I stared at her, picturing the bed of ashes we had found when the fire was finally put out. “What throne room?”

The corners of Nalia’s mouth twitched as she shrugged. “That’s what she said, your Highness. Perhaps she meant ‘where the throne room used to be?’”

I stood up slowly, shaking my head in bemusement. “I guess so.” Nalia moved aside to allow me to step out of the tent. I slapped Pan’s rump as I passed her, causing the pig-goat to reluctantly trot away. I paused just outside the doorway, staring at the maze of small brown tents. “Uh, Nalia? Do you… know where the throne room used to be?”

“Well of course I do, My Lady.” She sounded slightly confused.

I sighed and turned back to look at her. “Could you show me, please?” She raised her eyebrows a little, and I felt my face heat up. “What? This place looks really different now!”

“O-of course, Princess. My apologies,” she said quickly, lowering her head as if in deference, though I suspected that it was really to hide a smile. “Right this way.”

I followed Nalia to an area of the former Butterfly Castle that only had a few tents around, probably because it was on a bit of a slope.  _ Hmm… I should probably look more into how the levitation will affect the building.  _ My parents were standing side by side in the center of the little clearing, both wearing fancy clothes that looked extremely out of place among all of the ashes and dirt. Mother was holding her wand.  _ What’s going on here? _

“Princess Skywynne Lavender Butterfly.” I blinked at Mother’s overly formal greeting. “You have already waited three years longer than is customary to receive the Royal Magic Wand, and, due to the tragic events that have occurred this past month, it at first appeared that we would be forced to postpone your wand-passing ceremony even further.” My heart leapt into my throat.  _ Is she going to…?  _ “However,” My mother continued. “I have recently spoken to the Magic High Commission, and we have come to the decision that there is no point in keeping you from your birthright any longer.”  _ Why keep it from me in the first place, Mother?  _ “So without further ado-” She took a few steps forward, holding her broom-wand out towards me. “Princess Skywynne, do you swear to keep this wand safe from the forces of evil, to only raise it in aggression against enemies of your kingdom, and, above all else, to use it first and foremost for the betterment of Mewni and not for your own personal gain?”

I looked into her blue eyes and tried to channel all of the passion and conviction that burned in my chest into two simple words; “I do.”

“Then, by the power vested in me, Queen Lyric the Glamorous, I hereby bestow upon you the Royal Magic Wand. May it serve you well.”

My heart thumped rapidly as I reached out and carefully took the wand from my mother. I gasped as its power rushed through my veins, feeling simultaneously lighter than air and heavier than the planet itself.

Most people do not truly understand how time works. They think of it as a simple, measurable thing that marches forwards in a straight, steady, never-ending line. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. When I held the wand and felt its power coursing through me, I understood that time doesn’t really move forwards or backwards, but around and around in a dizzying circle, sometimes running like the world’s fastest racehorse and sometimes inching along like a snail. Every single zeptosecond contains innumerable endings and beginnings, and yet nothing ever really begins or ends at all because what was always will be, and vice versa. All of our destinies are laid out before us, our whole lives set in stone and yet, paradoxically, completely free.

I stared at the wand -  _ my  _ wand. It had a pink handle, a golden charging port at the bottom, and two downwards pointing off-white wings, with two little golden bells and three tiny pink hearts on top. The wand crystal had taken the form of a clock face and, when I looked closely, I could see that the minute hand was, in fact, moving.

_ Huh.  _ It certainly wasn’t what I would have expected, but it was perfect nonetheless.  _ I’m never going to be late for anything again! _

“A clock?” Mother raised her eyebrows. “That’s… certainly… unusual.”

“Yes,” I murmured, too excited to care that she didn’t sound at all impressed by my wand. “Yes, I understand now! Time doesn’t just go in a straight line, it’s, it’s a circle! Like the hands of a clock!”

“Oh, I see,” said Mother, not sounding like she particularly did. Father looked mildly concerned, and Nalia was staring at me as though I had just sprouted a second head.

“I mean, everything’s just, sort of, repeating itself, over and over,” I tried to explain. “It’s like one huge loop.”

My parents just silently looked at each other, then back at me. After a moment, Nalia hesitantly said, “But… wouldn’t we notice if time was repeating itself, My Lady?”

“No, no, that’s not really… that’s not what I meant. It’s just a big circle, but it’s too big for anyone to be able to tell that it’s not a straight line because, well, no one lives that long. We just don’t  _ exist  _ on that level.” I took a deep breath and looked at Nalia. “You see?”

“Uh… not really, Princess. Sorry.”

Mother interjected before I could think of a way to properly explain my thoughts. “That’s enough, darling, you’re only going to confuse the poor girl.” She turned to said girl and gave two quick claps. “Thank you, Nalia. That will be all.” The servant curtsied and walked away. Father, apparently assuming that that order applied to him as well, ambled after her.

“Well, thank you, Mother,” I said after a moment. “It… means a lot to finally have this.” I looked back down at my clock wand.  _ I can’t wait to try it out! _

“Oh you’re quite welcome, dear.” Mother beamed. “But before you get too caught up in that, there’s someone I’d like you to meet. Right this way!”

“Oh… okay.” I had to jog to keep up with her brisk steps as she led me towards one of the tents.  _ Did we have a dignitary visiting today?  _

“Lord Mark?” Mother raised a hand as if to knock on the fabric of the tent. Before she could, however, a dark-skinned young man with violet eyes stepped out. “Ah, there you are!”

“Yes - oh! My Queen! And, uh, Princess Skywynne!” He bowed quickly. “To what do I owe the pleasure, Your Majesties?”

“I just thought my daughter might like to speak with you.”  _ Wait what?  _ “Skywynne, say hello to Lord Mark.”

I curtsied. “Hello, Lord Mark.” He dipped his head in response but said nothing.  _ What am I supposed to be talking to him about? What’s going on?! _

After a long moment of silence, Mother spoke up again. “Skywynne, dear, did you know that Lord Mark likes to read?” She turned back to Mark - who looked as confused as I felt - and added, “My daughter’s quite the bookworm herself.”

“Oh, that’s, uh, great.” Mark shuffled his feet a little. “… Uh… what kind of books do you like to read, Princess?”

“Uh, different things, I guess.” I shrugged and looked at the ground. I still couldn’t understand why exactly my mother wanted me to talk to this man. “What about you?”

“Yeah, same. Different things.” 

“Uh… good.” 

We stood in silence for several long moments, Mother gazing at me expectantly while Lord Mark and I awkwardly avoided looking at each other. I wracked my brain for something,  _ anything  _ to say, but I came up empty.

It ended up being Mark himself who finally came to my rescue. “Well, I think I should probably go… uh… get some water.” He carefully stepped around me. “It was nice talking to you, Your Majesties.”

“You too,” I murmured, though I was far too embarrassed to lift my gaze from the ground.

Mother sighed deeply. “You know, you could try to be a little more social, Skywynne.”  _ You think I’m not trying?  _ “People will think that you’re unfriendly if you won’t make conversation.”

Okay, so she had a point there, but what conversation could I possibly make with someone I only ever saw in the halls and the occasional meeting? “I… I didn’t know what to say.” My voice came out sounding a lot quieter than I would have liked it too.

“Just… anything! Not every conversation has to be deep and meaningful, you know.”  _ Well  _ that’s  _ helpful. And besides, if it has no meaning then why should I do it?  _ I thought bitterly.

“Was there… any particular reason you wanted me to talk to Lord Mark?” I questioned.

“Well, Skywynne, dear, you’re nearly eighteen.”  _ That _ was a bit of an exaggeration - I had only turned seventeen a week or so before the fire. “It’s about time you started thinking about finding yourself a nice man and settling down.”

_ Oh. Ohhhhhhh. Yeah no that’s not happening. _

“Well, thank you, but I have no interest in getting married anytime soon,” I told her. I had seen how miserable my parents’ marriage had made them, what with Father slipping off at every opportunity to spend time with any and all ladies that weren’t his wife and daughter, and Mother drinking probably unhealthy amounts of wine every night to pretend that she had no idea that that was happening. Of course I knew not every marriage was like that, but still… witnessing it everyday didn’t exactly make the idea of a romance seem particularly appealing. “I would rather focus on my duties as Princess, for the time being.”

“Dear, marrying and bearing an heir to the throne  _ is  _ an important duty, perhaps the most important one you’ll ever have!”  _ I disagree.  _ “Besides,” she added, clasping her gloved hands together. “You won’t be young and pretty forever, you know - best snare yourself a man while you still can!” She winked.  _ Thanks so much, Mother. _

“Lots of women have children well into their thirties,” I told her. “I think I still have plenty of time to find a husband.” Of course, I could also just sleep with some random man for a few nights and have an heir without marrying, but seeing as I valued my life I did not share that particular thought with my mother.

“Oh well,” Mother sighed and squeezed my shoulder. “We’ll find you the perfect husband yet!”  _ Great.  _ “But right now, I think I’ll go touch up on my makeup - all this ash really isn’t good for one’s complexion.” She turned and headed towards our tent. “See you in a bit, darling!”

“See you.” I sighed.  _ I hope that doesn’t mean she’s going to make a habit of dragging me to random people’s doorsteps and trying to make me talk to them. _

I held up my wand ( _ my wand! _ ) and stared at it again, gently rubbing the smooth moonstone that made up the clock face. Oddly enough, I thought I could smell the faintest whiff of licorice.  _ Mother  _ hates  _ licorice… I guess that must just be something that MY wand does. _

I felt a wide grin spreading across my face as I pushed all thoughts of husbands and architecture to the back of my mind and began to look for something to try blasting.

_ After all, why think about  _ marriage  _ when I could be doing  _ magic?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And in this chapter, we learn that Skywynne is completely incapable of having a thirty second conversation with someone she isn't already close to. I relate much more than I'd like to.  
> Also, you know how Crescenta says in her chapter that she's the only Queen who's wand has three hearts (which makes her super special, of course)? Skywynne's wand actually does too; in the picture in her chapter you can two of them on top of the little bells and one is in between. So THAT was a freaking lie (or maybe Crescenta's just blind).


	3. Chapter 3

**_Bing!_** I aimed my wand at the boulder and blasted, effortlessly breaking it into tiny pebbles. I turned to a smaller rock and whispered, “ _Levitato,_ ” carefully engulfing it in magic and lifting it off the ground.

Pan, who was following me around and nibbling at the little green shoots that had finally begun poking out of the ashes, reacted to the floating rock with the same astonishment that she had shown the previous fifty times that I had attempted that feat. I snickered at her wide eyed expression and carefully moved the rock in front of her face. “It’s okay, girl, it’s okay. See? Just a rock. Nothing to be scared of.” The pig-goat eyed the small object warily for a moment, then tentatively sniffed it. “There you go, see? Nothing to - wait no don’t eat it!” I yanked it out of her mouth, losing control of my magic and dropping it on the ground in the process. Pan squealed and scrambled backwards. I sighed. “You’re hopeless.”

I heard a soft chuckle behind me, and whirled around to see one of the knights, the tall young one with tan skin, dark hair, and green eyes, leaning on his shovel and watching me. He quickly straightened up when our eyes met, flashing me a warm smile before getting back to work. My face grew hot and I looked away from them.  _ He’s so cute… wait what? _

I shook my head and took a few steps away before looking back towards the knights. Most of them, including the handsome one, appeared to be doing more chatting than working. I had hoped that when Mother agreed to make my design for the new Mewni Castle official that the work would start to go a lot faster, but that… wasn’t really happening. I worried that if we didn’t get the castle rebuilt soon, the monsters in the Forest of Certain Death or the demons of the Underworld would decide to attack us while we were vulnerable. Heck, even the Cloud Kingdom of the Ponyheads could pose a threat - they were allied with us at the moment, but ponyheads weren’t exactly known for their outstanding loyalty.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.  _ At least we’re making progress now.  _ Pan nudged my hip, having apparently completely forgotten her prior fear. I smiled and scratched her ears, then began searching the ground for another rock to practice either levitating or destroying. Spotting a tiny, oddly-shaped one a few feet in front of me, I whispered, “ _ Levitato. _ ” 

The rock wouldn’t budge.  _ Must be a bigger one stuck in the ground.  _ I gritted my teeth and tried to strengthen my magic and pull harder. Slowly, more of the rock became visible…  _ wait, that’s not a rock.  _ It was far too smooth and geometrical to just be a pebble - no, whatever this was, it had been carved by mewman hands. Intrigued, I stepped closer, straining to free the object from the earth’s grip.

“Agh!” It suddenly flew up out of the ashes and, by some miracle, I managed to catch it in my hands. I heard Pan squeal, but this time I paid her no mind, instead opting to examine the rectangular prism I had just pulled out of the ground.  _ It’s… a box? _

The box was a dull grayish brown, covered in faded green lines that I guessed were supposed to resemble snakes, with a monstrous yellow eye on either side. On the lid was written ‘Pandora,’ as well as something in low mewnian, which, unfortunately, I had yet to learn.

_ Pandora.  _ It sounded like a name, though not one I recognized. Curiously, I held the box to my ear and shook it. Disappointingly enough, I heard nothing; it appeared that whatever the box had once contained was gone now.

_ Still, couldn’t hurt to look inside,  _ I thought. I began fumbling with the lid, struggling to pull it open.  _ I’ll have to take this to a library later and see if I can decipher the low mewnian. Hm…  _ are _ there any libraries with low mewnian books anymore? _

“Ah!” Finally, I managed to force the lid open. I then let out a yelp as the box suddenly turned blood red and, like the world’s strongest vacuum, began to pull me towards it. I managed to yank my hands away, though a sharp pain in my right palm suggested I might have left some skin behind. My loose curls, however, were quickly sucked in, pulling my face uncomfortably close to the evil box and obscuring my vision.

“HELP! PLEASE! HELP ME! MOTHER!” I screamed. My feet scrabbled uselessly at the ground while my left hand flailed behind me, desperately searching for something to grab onto. I heard a hissing sound and felt my hair ripping as my strength failed me and I was pulled even closer to the box.

Just as I had begun to wonder what Mother would have written on my tombstone, I felt a strong hand grab onto my wrist. I heard people shouting, someone behind me ( _ Nalia? _ ) assuring me that I’d be okay, and then more hands grabbed onto my arm and I was flung backwards.

For several moments I just laid on my back where I’d landed, breathing heavily and barely processing Nalia’s worried voice or the clamoring of the dozen other people (probably mostly knights, judging by the uniforms) standing over me.

I felt a knee digging into my lower back, and it suddenly occurred to me that I was laying on top of someone. Snapping out of my stupor, I quickly scrambled off of their lap. “OhgoshI’msorry! Sorry! I didn’t-” My voice caught in my throat as my gaze met that of the beautiful green-eyed knight. I was suddenly acutely aware of the fact that I probably looked like a mess.

“Oh, no worries, Princess Skywynne!” The man beamed at me as he sat up. “I’m just glad you’re safe.” My heart fluttered at his words even as I told myself that it was a perfectly ordinary sentiment for a knight - or as a matter of fact for anyone who had just watched someone almost die - to express.

“It’s a good thing you got to her when you did, Gem-Robin.” A lovely dark-skinned knight rested her hand on his shoulder. “You were very brave.”

The handsome knight - Gem-Robin - shrugged modestly, though the cute little smile that played on his lips suggested that he enjoyed the praise more than he let on. “Oh, I was just lucky enough to hear her. Anyone would have-”

“Uh, I hate to ruin the moment,” an older knight interrupted. “But we should probably do something about that box. Preferably before that pig-goat goes any closer to it.”

_ Pig-goat?  _ I twisted around to look back at the evil box (which was now spinning rapidly in midair) and gasped. Pan was standing on the opposite side of the box from me, her nose twitching as she tentatively took a step towards it. “Pan! Pan, no! Get away from it!”

The pig-goat’s ears pricked up at the sound of my voice and, apparently completely oblivious to my distressed tone, she trotted towards me.  
“No! Wait!” The box froze, the eyes on either side seemingly fixing Pan with a predatory gaze. The poor little creature let out a high pitched squeal and began frantically trying to break away from the vacuum, only for the box to pull her in closer. I scrambled to my feet and rushed towards my struggling pet.

“Skywynne, no!” Nalia grabbed me before I could get close enough to feel the object’s pull. I whirled around to glare at her, then forced myself to soften my expression as I realized that she was right; running straight into an artifact of mass destruction probably wasn’t going to do me  _ or  _ Pan much good.

_ But then how do I… oh, duh.  _ I would’ve smacked myself if I wasn’t in such a hurry. I shook off Nalia, rushed back over to where the knights were still standing and picked my wand up off of the ground.

**_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!_ ** Pan’s scream sent a cold shock of terror up my spine, it was so primal and so  _ afraid _ and so unlike any sound I’d ever heard from her… from anything. I spun around, wand raised, just in time to catch a brief glimpse of her wide amber eyes before she disappeared into the box. 

I heard myself scream and felt the hourglasses on my cheeks burning as a powerful blast of magic shot towards the box… and promptly met the same fate as poor Pan. The hissing sound returned, and the box began spewing out hundreds of large brown bugs. Some of them fell to the ground and continued hissing, others were immediately sucked back into the box, only to be spat back out a second later. I gritted my teeth and focused on the magic flowing through myself and the wand.

I blasted again. And again. And again. But the box simply sucked the magic into it and continued spitting out the bugs (cockroaches, probably). If anything, my blasts seemed to be getting weaker and weaker. I sighed and lowered my wand, prying open the clockface to reveal a tiny unicorn with a broken horn slowly trotting along on the little treadmill, clearly fighting exhaustion.  _ Because of  _ course _ Bartholomew runs out of energy right at this exact moment. Because why not?!  _ I slammed the hatch closed.  _ I  _ really _ have to start remembering to charge this thing at night.  _

As I stood there trying to come up with a way to disable the box, the pretty knight who had complimented Gem-Robin rushed past me, now brandishing a shovel. With a wild shout, she leapt into the air and slammed the shovel down on the box as she fell back to the ground. _ Shockingly,  _ all this accomplished was getting the shovel sucked in. The knight yelped, just barely managing to let go before her hands were pulled in as well. Luckily, her hair was tied into a tight bun and she obviously didn’t have long fur like Pan, so she wasn’t tugged towards the box as easily as I or the pig-goat had been.

“Marie!” Gem-Robin rushed to grab onto the back of the lady’s shirt, the rest of the knights hot on his heels. Giving up on the wand, I grabbed Nalia’s arm to join the mewman chain and help pull the foolish knight away from the box.

Much to my surprise, Nalia yanked her arm out of my grip and darted around the retreating knights, making a beeline for the box.

“Wha- _ wait _ !”  _ Has she lost her mind?!  _ I scrambled after my maidservant. Again my loose hair obscured my vision as I got too close to the box. I dug my heels into the ground to avoid being sucked in. There was a flash of blue, a bloodcurdling scream, and suddenly the box’s pull was gone. I staggered backwards at the sudden lack of resistance and quickly brushed my hair out of my eyes. Nalia was kneeling on the ground just under where the box had been.

“Nalia!” I rushed over and crouched in front of her, grabbing her by the shoulders. She looked up at me, breathing heavily but still not speaking. The knights crowded around us, murmuring in worry or maybe astonishment. “Nalia, are you alright?”

“Y-yeah, yeah,” she finally stuttered out. “I’m okay.” I sighed and released her, flicking one of the cockroaches off of my hand. Nalia shuffled backwards and pulled a bent pair of scissors out from under her knees.  _ Dimensional scissors… of course, why didn’t I think of that? _

“Thanks for, uh, dealing with that,” I murmured as I helped her to her feet. “Where did you send it?”

She shrugged. “Dunno. Hopefully not somewhere with a lot of people.” Her brow furrowed. “Your Majesty…? What  _ was  _ that thing?”

I bit the inside of my lip. “I… don’t really know. I found it in the ground, and then I opened it up and it just started… doing that.”

“… Huh,” Nalia remarked after a moment. “That’s weird.”

I dropped my gaze to the ground.  _ I shouldn’t have been so reckless. Should’ve tried to translate the low mewnian  _ before  _ I opened it up.  _ I clenched my fingers around my wand.  _ I almost got Nalia killed. I  _ did  _ get Pan killed. _

_ I got Pan killed. _

_ She’s dead. _

“Princess?” I looked back up at Nalia. “Are you alright?”

I swallowed, trying to rid myself of the lump in my throat. “I’m fine, thank you,” I managed to say. Nalia didn’t look convinced, but thankfully she didn’t press.

“I’m sorry about your pig-goat, Princess Skywynne.” I jumped a little at Gem-Robin’s voice; I had nearly forgotten that the knights were still standing there. “I know how hard it is to lose a pet.” He and some of the others were gazing at me with sympathetic, almost pitying expressions.  _ Crap. _

“I-I… it’s…” I blinked back tears.  _ I am NOT going to cry in front of these people.  _ “…Never mind that. Thank you for your help, Ge… Sir Gem-Robin. And the rest… I mean, all of you. Thank you.” I silently wished that I had been sucked into the box after all. “Uh, you’re…  dismissed.”

“Oh… yes, Your Majesty. You’re quite welcome.” The knights broke off into small groups as they walked away, talking quietly amongst themselves. I saw Gem-Robin glance over his shoulder, but he quickly looked away when our eyes met. I let out a shaky breath.

Nalia rested a hand on my shoulder. “Princess-”

I shrugged her off. “You should take the rest of the day off. In case there are any side effects of-”

“ _ Skywynne! _ ” I whirled around at my mother’s voice. She was half walking, half running towards us, carefully holding her skirts up out of the ashes and dirt. Reynaldo, the giraffe-like Master of Order and Supreme High Chancellor of the Magic High Commission was right behind her. “We heard screaming, what’s-” She stopped mid-sentence, her mouth hanging open almost comically, then dropped her skirts and rushed towards me. “Your HAIR! Your beautiful hair! Oh,  _ Skywynne _ !” She cupped my cheeks in her hands, her thumbs caressing what was left of my hair. Part of me - the part that wasn’t fighting back sobs - wanted to burst out laughing at her horrified expression.  _ Yeah, of course that’s the first thing she notices. My hair. _

“What happened, Princess Skywynne?” Reynaldo questioned as he approached. His voice was as steady and monotone as ever, but his eyebrows were knotted with worry.

“Uh…” I carefully withdrew from my mother’s grip, glancing at Nalia for help. “Well, I found a box, uh, in the ground, and I opened it up and it started pulling everything into it. Sir… uh, a knight saved me before I could be… sucked in.”

“I see.” Reynaldo’s frown deepened. “And tell me, Princess, how did you manage to deactivate this… box?”

“Uh, well, it was actually Nalia who got rid of it, not me.” The maidservant shrunk back as if she was trying to hide behind me.  _ Isn’t she proud of herself?  _ “She sent it to another dimension.”

“Ah.” The chancellor turned his impassive gaze on Nalia. “To which dimension did you send the artifact?”

“I-I don’t know, My Lord.” Nalia’s voice was quiet and her eyes were fixed on the ground. “Sorry.” I stared at her in quiet amazement.  _ What does  _ she  _ have to be sorry for? She just saved my life! _

“Hm.” Reynaldo turned back to my mother and I. “I beg your pardon, Your Majesties. I must inform the other members of the Magic High Commission of this object so that we may find it and ensure that it does no further damage.” He dipped his head and walked back in the direction he came. Nalia sighed.

“Thank you for assisting my daughter, Nalia,” Mother said primly. “You may return to your duties now - Skywynne and I have something to discuss privately.”  _ Uh oh.  _ That either meant that I was in trouble or she was going to introduce me to another suitor. I wasn’t sure which one was worse.

“Yes, Your Highness.” Nalia curtsied and hurried away.

“Thanks again!” I called after her. She tossed me a quick smile over her shoulder. I sighed quietly and turned back to my mother, bracing myself for what was sure to be an uncomfortable conversation. “Yes, Mother?”

She didn’t speak at first, just frowned and stroked my ragged curls. “That horrible thing did quite a number on your hair,” she remarked after a few moments. “I’m going to have to postpone your coronation ceremony - we can’t present you to the people of Mewni looking like  _ this.  _ No offense.”

“Uh, none taken.”  _ Well at least she doesn’t sound angry.  _ “Sorry about… wait, you’re going to have to postpone my  _ what _ ?”

“Oh! Right, I hadn’t told you that, had I?” Mother chuckled. “Well, you  _ do  _ have the Royal Wand now, Skywynne, and you seem to have taken to it quite naturally, even without Glossaryck’s guidance. So I suppose it’s about time that you took your place as the proper Queen of Mewni.”

“But… but… why?!” A surge of panic flashed through me. “Are you…?”

“Oh, I’m perfectly fine, darling!” She smiled reassuringly. “I didn’t mean to worry you. It’s just that I’m getting old-”  _ Old?! You’re thirty-six, for corn’s sake!  _ “-and ruling Mewni has become such a  _ drag  _ lately and, well…” She shrugged. “You understand.”

I did  _ not  _ understand. “I, I just, I… I don’t think I’m ready to be Queen yet.”

Mother waved a hand dismissively. “Oh, you’ll be fine, dear. If you need help you can always write to me or ask the Magic High Commission.”

I frowned. “Write to you? Are you leaving?”

“Oh, yes, I thought I’d spend some time in the little vacation home inside of Mount Moltencore,” she explained. “They say the heat does wonders for your skin.”

“…Oh,” was all I could say.

“Your father, meanwhile, wants to take a little vacation to the Jaggies,” Mother continued. “We’ll meet back up with each other in a few months and decide what we’re going to do after that.” She kept talking, but I stopped listening.  _ I’m  _ not  _ ready. I don’t know enough magic and I’m bad at speeches and I can’t even keep my  _ pig-goat  _ alive and this kingdom is a MESS! _

“-but I think… Skywynne?” I shook my head and snapped my attention back to my mother. She was frowning. “Is everything alright, dear?”  _ NO! I just got Pan killed and now there’s a murderous box on the loose somewhere in the multiverse because I needed my maid to clean up  _ my  _ mess and now you want me to become Queen! _

“Pan got sucked into the box,” I blurted out. “She’s dead.”

Mother’s forehead creased. “…Pan?”

I sighed quietly. “My pet pig-goat.”

“Oh!” Mother visibly relaxed, then seemed to force her face into a sympathetic expression. “Oh, sweetie. Do you want to go into town to pick out a new pig-goat later? Or maybe we could get you a quieter pet, like a hamster or-”

“No,” I interrupted her. “No, it’s… it’s fine. I just…” I sighed. “I think I’ll go charge my wand.”

“Oh, alright then.” She smiled again. “Why don’t you brush your hair while you do that? I just have to fill out some paperwork and then I’ll join you and we’ll see what we can do to salvage those beautiful curls.”

I sighed as I turned back in the direction of our family’s tent. “Alright.”

_ Pan’s dead. I’m not ready to be Queen. I need Glossaryck. I don’t know enough magic, I need to learn low mewnian, Mother waited three years too long to give me my wand why can’t she wait four more I’m not READY and Pan’s DEAD and Gem-Robin probably thinks I’m rude and whatifNalia’sactuallyhurtI’MNOTREADY…! _

_ Breathe in. Hold. Breathe out. In. Hold. Out. _

I looked around at the maze of tents I had stumbled into, trying to remember which one was mine.  _ I  _ have  _ to be ready. Mewni needs a  _ real _ Queen to lead it or it’s going to collapse under its own weight. I have to be ready to step up to the plate, and soon. _

I clutched my wand a little tighter.

_ I  _ will  _ be ready. _

**Author's Note:**

> Well, here's the first chapter of my first published fic. Hope you enjoyed! I'm open to polite constructive criticism. I'll try to update this every week but, seeing as I'm a convicted procrastinator and have a busy schedule at the moment, that might not happen.


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